Peach orienting machine



Jan. 30, 1951 w. WATERS PEACH ORIENTING MACHINE Flled Jan 19, 1948 W.WATERS 2,540,020

PEACH ORIENTING MACHINE Jan. 30, 1951 Filed Jan. 19, 1948 4SheecS-Sheer.` 2

/r/G. Z INVENToR.

Jan. 30, 1951 L'. W. WATERS 2,540,020

PEACH ORIENTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 19, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Z5 27 if #a47a a i Vf M a l il Z Jy J/f J4 Ji w w n i lfd O JNVENToR. naam/ci 14./M7525 BY i WM #m L. W. WATERS 4 PEACH ORIENTING MACHINE Jan. 30, 19512,540,020

Filed Jan. 19, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INI/EN TOR. 4mm/ci )44 )4427-525atented `an. 30, V1951 UNITED STATES yPi'lEhVil QFF'I'C'E "PEACHGIENTING MHINE .lawrence W.'Waters, Ontario, CaliL-f-assignorjto AtlasVImperial Diesel Engine Co., Qakland,

Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application January 19, 15948,-1SerialNo; 2,994

`15. Clairns. .l This invention relates .to'anapparatusor-.automatically and continuously 1 aligning ror.::orient4-ing peaches and other like.sdrupaceouszfruit.

In canneries, it is common practice .ato pit peachesand-otherlikeiruitof-thetstone variety Y `-byfrneansof--autornaticp-itting machines. f These machines are of varioustypes-butin allormo'st of them the-fruit is introducedinto the-machines,

either manually orautoma-ticallyiwith the suture plane andthe cleft ofthefruit in-predetermined lposition. Thus, in oney typeof pittingIapparatus,

`peaches .are impaled upons an .impaling element "In impalingeach-peach; it mustbe-presented-awith the'` cleft of the fruit towardthe impaling element and the suture in a-verticallplane. rIn-`V another`type fot apparatus:l the '-peach is-placed` Vbetween lspa'ce'd-pairs.of blades, with 2the. suture` plane :parallel tothe bladesand lying`between:.thern.

#It-has been the practice heretoforeatoaalignior `orient peaches4ancluether. like ffruit .for .delivery to pitting machines. and/thelike,ceith.erv manually Lor. lby machinery that .is :relatively islovv:Aordnetv.fcient in` operation.

Itis an zobject.of;the: 2presentiinventionto .pro- -vide an .apparatusWhich. efficiently performs; the function of.;aligning or;,orientir1gpeaches ion-.de-

`liverytoa pittingmachine or .thellike It is a further object of theinventiontorprovide `'an apparatusand a method whereby peaches and:other like lfruit may belted-.with random orienta-tion `to adeliverystatio-n andecontinually forwarded to. a Y receiving orlremoval"l station,ztat

which latterpointzeach vpeach will bein properly .aligned or orientedposition,` such that. anoperator canpickup a peachandfby a: simplemechan- -ical movement-without bothering to inspect the peach, bring it.into the proper position for feeding to the impalingelement, cuttingblade or,.the

like of a pitting machine.

.Itis a further` object of the invention tofpropropelling" the .fruittoward a removal or..pickup station, imparting tothe peaches aspinningmotionoperative to align or orient each peach, and `interrupting"the sp-inning 'motion of eachv peach "at themoment of alignment,suflicientlyto maintain the peach in properly oriented conditionor vtheremainder of its `travel'tothe removali'sta- Y. tion.

v'LFI'hese and other objects ofthe .inventionfwill be apparent fromiithefollowing description-and Lthe appendedclaims.

" Myiinventionawill be5better;understoodlbyfsrefference tor theaccompanying drawings; .in ,which: Fig. 1 isa sideiel'evationzpartlyfbrokenraway, of the apparatus for the :invention Fig.. 2 is :atransverse sectiony .taken v.alongrthe .line 2-2.:of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 :is a detailediand Venlarged'.fragmentary view, :with 'par-ts.broken-away, .ofY one `of tithe sprocket-and-gear assemblies -of`theeapparatus of theinvention.

. Fig. 4 is aitransversesectionftaken;alonglthe line i-l` of` Fig. 1.

Fig. 5- is transversesection-along the line`l5-15 lof`Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is-a1 longitudinalfsection taken alongllthe .line TI-l of lFig.1.

'Referring now to the gures oflthedrawings, a main frame vill `"supports`a spaced r*pair-of sprocket and gear assemblies generally designated-as `II and'I2,-each otwh-ich -isrotatably mounted 'cna fixed shaft I3journaled in suitablebearings `inmain frame tt. Front or-feed-endfsprocket assembly I I as shown moreclearlyin Fig. 2,'comsvprises asmall sprocket I llboltedonto the hubof'a large sprocket I5,which is v'rotatably' mounted on 'fixed-shaft I 3,- and stationarywormgear `I 6-l keyed to x'ed shaft I 3. Sleevesl or-spacers-l1-andff-l 8kconiine sprocket lonfshaft 'I3. lSmallrslrnfocket Ill (see Fig. 1) ispowered byffmotor-2Ilthrou'gh gear boxe-2 I ',sprocketZIJ-andendlesschainiZ Sien- "gaging theteethof'sprockets22and 54. ""Ihe`construction of rear or"dischargeeendsprocketas- A`sembly l2 'isidentical with "th'atof frontasprocket assembly 'I I except `ior'ithelabsence nofrsmahV I fchain 25--by 'means' of laterally-extending armsl'21. The iruit-pushers have the Hfunction "of `propelling the fruitfromthe` freceiving^stati0n 'to thedelivery Vstation-ofthe'machine as willbe described.

An endlesscablev 3B paralleling but spacedlaterally from endless chain25,- isA carried'andoper- Amanner pow to befdesc'ribed. --Referring more33 4ofismaller diameter thanzsprocketi 5 iis yjou-rlongitudinal axis.

naled on fixed shaft I3. At regularly spaced intervals about thecircumference of plate 33 pairs of bearing plates 34 are positioned andeach is rigidly secured at one end to carrier plate 33 and at theopposite end to sprocket I5. Journaled in the centers of each pair ofbearing plates 34, at right angles to fixed shaft I3, is a shaft 38 towhich is keyed a rotatable worm gear 39 meshing with stationary wormgear I6. Also journaled in bearing plates 34 are parallel roller shafts45a and 45h. To shaft 45a. are keyed a spaced pair of identical beveledrollers 46a each having a knurled surface 47a, and between rollers 46a,in meshing relationship to worm gear 39, is a pinion 48a, also keyedv toshaft 45a. Similarly keyed to shaft 45D are a spaced pair of beveled,knurled rollers 46h having knurled surfaces 4'Ib and a pinion 48hpositioned between rollers 46h keyed to shaft 45D and meshing with wormgear 39.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, rollers 46a are offset relativeto rollers 46h a distance about equal to the roller thickness, and eachadjacent pair of rollers 46a, 46D overlaps so as to present acusp-shaped path or channel I (see Fig. 2). Also, the pair of adjacentrollers 46a, 46h at one end of shafts 45a, 45D face oppositely to thepair of rollers 46a, 46h at the other end of shafts 45a, 45h. Theaforementioned endless cable 36 is looped about the rollers 46a, 46h soas to be carried in cusp-shaped channels 5 I. The

vrollers 46a, 46D are so positioned that cable 3l),

at all points where it lies within a cusp-5|, and

'chain 25 are equi-distant from the axis of shaft sprocket assemblies I|and I2 will cause rotation of cable 39y about its longitudinal axis,this rotary movement being imparted to cable 30 as follows: As mainsprocket I5 rotates about shaft I3, worm gears 39 also rotate about thisshaft. Engagement of each gear 39 with the corresponding fixed gear I6during rotation about shaft I3 causes gears 39 to rotate about their ownaxes which, in turn, engage pinions 48a and 48h on the shafts of rollers46a and 4Gb, thus causing these rollers to rotate in the same directionabout their own axes and, by engaging cable 30, rollers 46a and 46Dcause cable 39 to rotate about its of rotation of cable 30 can bepredetermined for any given rate of rotation of sprocket assemblies IIand I2, by appropriate design of the gear ratios of worm gears I6, 39,48a, and 48h.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. l and 5, the spacing ofsprocket assemblies |I and I2 longitudinally of the frame Ill, toaccommodate chains and cables of different lengths and to -take upslack, is accomplished by means of a bolt 50 bearing against a flangedcollar 5| in which one end of shaft I3 of sprocket assembly I2 isseated. There is also provided, as shown, a

track 52 for the flange of collar 5I, check nuts It is apparent that thespeed f a passageway for the cable 30. Locating member 6D is supportedon main frame I9 by spaced brackets 6| and 62. Bolted to the uppersurfaces of upper brackets 62 is an angle iron 63. A flat 'beam 64 isbolted to the upright leg of angle iron 63 bybolts 65 passing throughovate slots 64a. in beam 64, thus permitting vertical adjustment offruit locating member 66. Bolted to the upper portion of beam 64, and onopposite faces thereof, are a pair of identical, oppositely disposedfruit locating plates 66 having inwardly tapering edges 61, which servean important orienting function as explained hereinafter and which alsodene a channel 68 to receive cable 3U. The outer surfaces of edges 6lslant upwardly and inwardly, toward one another, and terminate below thetop surface of cable 39 but, preferably, above the center of cable 39.Advantageously, edges 6l terminate about midway between the center andtop of cable 36.

Lateral guide members generally designated as 10a and 'Illb are providedabove and spaced laterally from cable guide 66. These lateral guides aresupported upon posts 'Ila and lib, respectively. Posts la are bolted totransverse shafts 12a while posts I b are bolted to transverse shafts12b, which are similar to but are positioned above shafts 12a. Shafts72a and 12b are slidably journaled through posts 73a and 73D, which arebolted to opposite sides of main frame |0. Shafts Y|2a. and '12b canthus be displaced laterally by sliding through posts 'i3d and 73h, thuspermitting lateral adjustment of guides 10a and 16h. This lateraladjustment is accomplished by a mechanism later to be described.

Returning now to lateral guides 70a and 10b, each of the posts 'IIa and1lb is provided with a vertical slot 9U at about its mid portion andwith an open-ended vertical slot 9| in its top portion. A bracket 92having diagonal slots 93 and 94 is bolted to each post lla and Ib bymeans of bolts 95 and 96 passing through the registering slots of thepost and bracket. An arm 91 terminating in a transverse bar or rod 98 issecured to each bracket 92. The guide assembly proper, supported bybracket 92, arm 91 and rod 98, consists of a pair of identical butoppositely disposed T irons 99, each providedwith a V-shaped groove |00on the face or top portion or bar of the T. The engagement of each Tiron 99 and rods 98 is secured by an L section IDI and bolts |02threaded through the l pulley cage ||0 is a shaft III to which arekeyed,

at one end (Within cage IIU) a driven pulley |I2 and, at the oppositeend, a driving pulley |I3 which in turn is driven by belt II4communicating with any suitable source of power (not shown). At theopposite end of each T beam 99 is a similar pulley arrangement,comprising pulley cage II5, pulley shaft IIB and pulley II'I, butwithout a driving pulley corresponding to pulley II3. Looped about eachpair of pulleys I|2 and I|'| is an endless cable IIB,

assenso which, .lasshown inf Figi 4, traverses and lies l tudinal shafti2?. Shaft '|21 i's rotatably j'o'urnaled in posts l'i3d and also abear-ing 'meme ber |28, which is bolted to frame t!) and is lo'- catedmid-way oi the shaft.Y Rigidly secured' to shaft |l2'i adjacent bearingmember |128 is a col# lar |29 provided with a. lever |3il having akeylill-ivv extending therethrough near `the outer/end of the lever. A.sector |l32v isrig'i'dlyls'ecured to bearing member |128 adjacent leveri3d. It will be seen that, 'by turningV lever' i1-3B to the right orife't, shaft |52? will rotate, which, acting through -oran-lr t2@ andlinks liZli'zzand |25bwill cause transverse shafts 52a and i721;y vto`shi-itA equally biitoppositcly, thus adjusting the spacing oi 4lateralguides lilav and 1Gb. With lateral guides loa, `and-ith suitablyspaced-key |36 is turned to engage sector |32,.thu's serving to lockshaft |271 "to the sector. A set screw |33 locks lever |39 to shaft |21.Sector |32 may be provided' with indexing to indicate the spacing oflateral guides Tea and lob.

In operation, motor 2t is started, which acting through gear box 2i,sprocket 22 and endless chain 23, revolves-'front sprocket-and-gear.assembly il. The resulting rotary motion of llarge sprocket t5 engagingendless chain 25move`s thev endless chain linearlyand causescorresponding rotation oi rear sprocket-andeg'ear assembly l2. At thesame time, intermediate, movable worm gear 39 engaging stationary worm`gear It ree volver, and', acting throughv pinions iSwand 481) on theshafts 25u and 45h, causes rotation oi rollers and @b on theirrespective shafts. Endess cable is thus given a linear moton at the samerate as chain and, also, a high speed rotary motion about itslongitudinal axis.

Meanwhile, endless cables N of lateral guides 16a' and 'leb will have be:n set in motion through belts lill and pulleys H3L H12 andv|'i-'|;.tbje linear movements of the two cables |18 are in the samedirection and. at the same-rate, and preferably they are caused to moveat the same rate as the fruit to minimize `frictional engagement of thesides of the fruit and the cables.l

Aitor the apparatus is thus set in operation, peaches or other fruit to,be oriented with the cleft downward are dropped oneby one, eithermanually or by any suitable automatic feeding mechanisnir well known inthe art, `down chute |43 between pulleys ii'i at the front or feed endof guides lila. and lilla. Paddles 2S moved by chain 25 engage the fruitand move it forward linearly. Meanwhile.- cable td.; moving linearly atthe same rate as the fruit and rotating about its axis, imparts to eachfruit a rapid spinning motion about its horizontal axis. The result ofthis rapid spinning motion is that, before the fruit has traversd anygreat linear distance, it becomes oriented with the cleft downward anddirectly over cable 35.) and the suture vertically disposed and in theplane of the axis of cable 3B. At the moment when this alignment occurs,the edges el (Fig. 4) of locating plates 66 come into operation byengaging the sides of the fruit just below the points where cable 3E! istangent to the skin of the fruit. The edges lil) 6 67 thus hold theiiruit sufciently away .'froli cable Se, or atleast decrease 'thetriction'al 'en-- gagement of cable 3B and the skin of Vthe fruit sothat the fruit no longer spins about itshorizon'tal alXis. The fruitthen continues its travel to the removal station without this alignmentltiei'n'glv disturbed. l Thus, by the time the i'ruithas traversed thelength of the guides lila and Tub, it will have been 'oriented in such away `that it Vcan-be picked upwardly by hand or automatically and thrustonto an impaling elementor a slitting or halving knife without thenecessity of aligning vthe fruit for the slitting or halving operation.

While I- have shown the 'preferred Vform o'f myinvention, it is to beunderstood that various changes may be made in its vconstruction bythose skilled in the art without departing trom the spiritfof Vtheinvention as' deiined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, whatI claimand desire to secure byLetters Patent'is:

l. Apparatus for orienting peaches and other likefruit, comprisingpropelling means for vmovthefru-it continuouslyfrom a delivery stationtoward a removal station a rotating member rotating about an axisparallel to the direction'o'f movement of the fruit and adapted toengage the l fruit and impart thereto a spinning motion about lmeans forrendering the rotating member inoperative comprises two spaced opposing,longitudinally extended members defining a passageway for said rotatingmember and having inwardly slanting edges terminating short of the topyof the rotating member and at such a level that, when the fruit isoriented with its cleft and suture aligned with the rotating member,saidedges engage the fruit and break its engagement with the rotatingmember.

3.' The apparatus of claim 2, wherein saidvrotating member is a cable.

4. Apparatus for orienting peaches withV the suture plane in verticalposition and the cleft down-wards, comprising a pair of spaced,vertically disposed wheels, an endless belt member loopedabout saidwheels, laterally projecting propelling members spaced yalong andsecured to said belt member and each adapted -to engage and propelapeach forward, laterally projecting supporting members radially spacedabout and secured to each said wheel so as to rotate therewith, anvendless cable member looped about the said supporting members` of eachwheel, and means associated with said supporting members and operated byrotation of the wheels to impart a spinning motion to said 'cable`member about its axis.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, in combination with a structure disposedbetween said wheels, serving to denne a passageway for the upper courseof said cable member and operative to engage the fruit and break itsengagement with the cable member when in oriented position with thecleft and suture plane aligned with the cable member.

6. apparatus of claim 5, wherein said structure comprises alongitudinally extended grooved member deiining and serving as a channelfor said cable member along its upper course between said spaced wheels,said grooved member having inwardly tapering side portions terminatingshort of the top of the cable member such that, when a peach has beenoriented with its cleft and suture in alignment with the cable member,said side portions engage the sides of the peach within the cleft andbreak the engagement of the peach and the cable member.

'7. Apparatus for orienting peaches comprising a pair of spaced wheelsarranged in a vertical plane, an endless conveyor member carried by saidwheels and adapted to convey peaches from a receiving station to adelivery station, a plurality of pairs of adjacent and overlappingrollers for each said wheel, means mounting said pairs of rollersradially of the axes of rotation of said wheels and spaced from saidwheels so as to rotate at the same rate and in the same direction as thewheels, an endless cable member carried by said rollers, and meansoperable by rotation of said wheels to impart rotary motion to saidrollers to spin said cable member about its longitudinal axis.

8. The apparatus of claim '7, in combination with a grooved memberdisposed between said wheels defining a channel for the upper course ofsaid cable member and having inwardly tapering side portions terminatingshort of the top of the cable member such that, when a peach has beenoriented with its cleft and suture aligned With the cable member, saidside portions engage the sides of the peach within the cleft and breakthe engagement of the peach and the cable member.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, including lateral guide means for providinglateral support for the peach, comprising a pair of members disposedabove and on opposite sides of said grooved member and each adapted tocarry and move linearly, in the direction of travel of the peach, anendless cable in such position as to engage a side of the peach.

10. Apparatus for orienting peaches with the cleft downwards and thesuture plane vertical comprising a pair of spaced sprocket wheelsrotatable on horizontal axes and lying in a vertical plane, positivemeans for rotating one such sprocket wheel, an endless chain membercarried by said sprocket wheels, laterally projecting members spacedalong and secured to said chain adapted to engage successive peaches andto propel them forwardly in succession, a plurality of pairs ofadjacent, overlapping rollers for each said sprocket wheel, meansmounting said pairs of rollers in fixed relationship to said wheels soas to define a cusp-shaped path for engaging a cable, said path havingsubstantially the same radius as said sprocket wheels, gearingassociated with and operated by said sprocket wheels operable to rotatesaid rollers at the same rate and in the same direction, and an endlesscable carried by said rollers.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, including grooved member supporting anddening a path for the upper course of said cable and having in- Wardlyprojecting side portions terminating short of the top of the cable andoperative to engage the sides of the peach and break its engagement withthe cable when the cleft and suture of the peach are aligned with thecable.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, including a pair of lateral guide membersdisposed above and on opposite sides of said grooved member, eachcomprising a longitudinally extended guide plate provided with alongitudinal groove facing the peach, horizontally disposed pulleymembers disposed at opposite ends of each guide plate, an endless pulleycable looped about the pulley members of each guide plate and engagingthe groove of the guide plate along its inner course, and means forrotating the pulley members so as to give the endless pulley cables alinear movement in the same direction as the movement of the peaches.

13. A peach orienting machine comprising conveyor means for conveyingpeaches from a receiving station to a delivery station, and orientingmeans comprising a longitudinal member having its axis parallel to thepath of travel of the fruit between said stations, and means forsimultaneously rotating said longitudinal member about its longitudinalaxis and imparting' linear movement thereto along said path of travel.

14. A peach orienting machine comprising conveyor means for conveyingpeaches from a receiving station' to a delivery station, and orientingmeans comprising an endless cable member having its axis parallel to thepath of travel of the fruit between said stations, and means for movingsaid endless cable member linearly and simultaneously imparting aspinning motion thereto.

15. A peach orienting machine comprising conveyor means for conveyingpeaches from a receiving station to a delivery station, and orientingmeans comprising an endless cable member having its axis parallel to thepath of travel of the fruit between said stations, and means for movingsaid endless cable member linearly and simultaneously imparting aspinning motion thereto, a pair of cables disposed above and on oppositesides of said endless cable member, and means for imparting linearmovement to said cables in the direction of movement of the fruitLAWRENCE W. WATERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

